Samsung Ramps Up to Bring OLED Prices Down

In a year or two, OLED TVs could come in sizes larger than 11-inches and price points cheaper than $2,000, according to predictions by Samsung SDI, which will double its production of the displays from 1.5 to 3 million by 2009. Looks like Sony finally has some competition.

According to research from DisplaySearch, sales of active matrix OLED displays are about to explode: They'll increase 69% in 2008, then 83% in 2009 and 53% in 2010. By that time, according to Samsung, production processes will have streamlined to a point where manufacturers achieve economies of scale and prices will drop to more reasonable levels.

Current uses for OLED displays include tiny displays in portable devices, but Woo-Jong Lee, Samsung SDI's vice president of mobile display marketing, says OLEDs will soon find their way into flexible displays, monitors, notebooks and televisions.

Samsung has believed in OLED technology for some time. Earlier this year the company showed off a 31-inch OLED television prototype at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Does the company's comments this week imply we'll see that product on store shelves by 2009? -Rachel Rosmarin DigiTimes